Monthly Archives: September 2011

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Fairmont
Newport Beach, will be “tickled pink” during the month of October in
observance of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Beginning Saturday, the hotel will be decorated with pink orchids,
illuminated with pink lighting and the Lobby Lounge staff will serve
pink cocktails clad in pink ties. A number of initiatives at the hotel
will be taking place honoring and recognizing all who have been touched
by this disease.

During
the month, guests are encouraged to enjoy “Breakfast in Bed”
for a good cause. When guests book the Bed & Breakfast Package
during the month, 5 percent of the proceeds from all packages booked
will benefit breast cancer awareness organizations. To book the package
visit www.fairmont.com/newportbeach or call 800-441-1414.

In
bamb Restaurant & Lounge, located lobby level, guests will enjoy
pink themed drinks such as: Pink Ribbon-tini, Great Cause-Mo-Politan and
the signature drink, Berry Beautiful. For each pink cocktail purchased
during the month of October, $1 will benefit breast cancer awareness
organizations.

Along
with these events, Fairmont Newport Beach employees will be dedicated
to the cause by participating in additional fundraising initiatives. On October 7th,
2011 from 11am to 2 pm, “Tacos for Ta-Ta’s” will be held in the staff
cafeteria where leaders of the hotel will be preparing and serving
gourmet tacos for colleagues. Employees are invited to donate $1.00 for
specialty tacos to support a great cause during their lunch hour. The hotel staff has also organized teams to walk “Making Strides Against Breast Cancer” 5K walk on Sunday, October 9th, 2011.

The
team behind the Blue Door Group is adding another Mendocino
Village property to their lot, which already includes JD House and
Packard House.

Formerly the Whitegate Inn, the Blue Door Inn
(easily spotted by the royal blue front door) did a
complete 6-month top-to-bottom remodel where full private bathrooms were
installed (half of which boast jetted tubs), rooms have been outfitted
with flat screen televisions and luxuriously designed beds. With final
furnishings arriving this month, the inn is slated to begin welcoming
guests in early October.

Pacific Edge, Joie de Vivre Hotels’ Laguna Beach property, has unveiled The
Deck, a new beachfront dining experience. Located steps
from the sand with panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean, this relaxing,
160 seat open-air restaurant offers a food and beverage menu
specializing in classic beach fare.

The Deck gives guests a front row seat to watch surfers, paddle boarders,
dolphins and sunsets right in the heart of downtown Laguna Beach.

“Our goal
was to create a place that embodies the culture of the community, where
people can unwind while enjoying quality food and great service. We want to give locals and visitors alike an unforgettable Laguna Beach experience,” said Bill Tremper, general manager of Pacific Edge.

Locally
celebrated Chef Michael Ingrino created the menu at The Deck, which
includes seafood, steak, burgers, salad, and paella, as well as
specialty drinks like the “Guava Mango Margarita” and “Blue Crush.”

To
create the menu, Ingrino drew inspiration from flavors found in favorite
beach towns across the globe, focusing on simple, light dishes.

The cocktail menu includes fresh fruits and spices, with ingredients such as cucumber, lemon, blueberry, basil and honey.

Guests visiting The
Deck can relax on lounge chairs in the sand, store paddleboards at the
beach valet, take a surf lesson, or rent a cabana.Each
of the five beachfront cabanas has a private indoor and outdoor space
and offers a menu of “extras,” including a masseuse, mobile airbrush
spray tanning, manicure/pedicure, and a personal
photographer/videographer. Day rate charges start at $450.

The Deck will be open daily from 11:00 am to 9:30pm, with capacity for 160.

In
anticipation of the award-winning resort’s 2012 “silver anniversary,”
Southern California’s JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort &
Spa has announced a number of exciting updates in an effort to enhance the
property’s overall guest experience.

These $25 million improvements
include extensive renovations to the resort’s Ted Robinson-designed Palm
golf course, a refresh of their 884 guestrooms and suites, the addition
of Fisherman’s Landing as their latest dining option and new retail
outlets including Sunnylands Chocolate Factory and Zoetic Health &
Fitness, set to open their doors in October.

Hyatt
Regency San Francisco Airport – Burlingame recently introduced a new
dog-friendly pet program. Guests traveling with canine companions can
have a maximum of two (2) dogs, up to 50 pounds each, with them in their
guest room.

Each guest receives a “Doggie Welcome Kit” which includes a
welcome letter, “dog on vacation” guestroom door hanger, a Hyatt
branded dog bed, bowl, ID tag, and special dog treats.

During
their stay, four-legged friends will enjoy the grassy dog walking area
complete with convenient, fully stocked clean-up stations.

Conveniently
located in the hotel to allow for easy access for dog walking, a select
number of dog-friendly guest rooms are designated and, along with the
standard room cleaning procedures, the rooms undergo a deep cleaning –
including carpets, drapery and all upholstered furniture – after each
dog guest has checked out.

Reservations must be made at least three days in advance of arrival and accommodations for pets include a $35
charge per day of your stay.For reservations and additional information, please call (650) 347-1234 or visit http://sanfranciscoairport.hyatt.com.

Superstar
Gourd Growing Greats and their hard-to-believe, gasp-inspiring,
titanic orange orbs gather on the morning of Monday, October 10
for the 38th Annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin
Weigh-Off — in the World Pumpkin Capital of Half Moon Bay,
California — the kick-off to Half Moon Bay’s world-famous Art &
Pumpkin Festival which takes place October 15-16. Event
sponsor Safeway is offering a $5,000 bonus mega-prize to any
grower that breaks the world record at Half Moon Bay — considered the
“Super Bowl of Weigh-Offs”.

A host of accomplished, grizzled veteran growers will be contending
for the coveted title, the $5,000 world record prize and $20,000 in
additional prize money. In a unique pay-by-the-pound system, the
winner will take home a hefty $6 per pound for the champion
mega-pumpkin. Defending champion Ron Root of Citrus Heights, CA,
obliterated the competition at last year’s Half Moon Bay weigh-off
with his leviathan, gasp-inspiring 1,535-pound Atlantic Giant.
Beauty will share center stage with beefy brawn — a special $500
prize will be awarded to the “most beautiful pumpkin” as judged by
the audience based on color, shape and size.

Celebrate the grand opening of
the Fender Visitor Center in Corona, on Monday, Sept. 19. In
addition to the Center, Fender will be offering public tours of its
adjacent manufacturing facility.

This will be the first time the iconic
musical instrument manufacturer has opened its doors to the public in
its storied 65-year history.

Inside the 8,600-square-foot center, located near Fender’s historical
Southern California birthplace, exhibits include interactive displays of
modern Fender musical products, historic instruments, rare photographs
and artifacts, a tribute to Leo Fender, the Fender Hall of Fame, video
presentations on the evolution of the electric guitar (including rare
archival footage), displays presenting reflections on Fender by
musicians throughout the history of modern music, and much more.

The facility also introduces the world’s first Fender retail shop, where
visitors can browse and purchase Fender clothing and collectables.

The
Fender Visitor Center also serves as the starting and concluding points
for the free public tours of the adjacent Fender factory and legendary
Fender Custom Shop.

ExperiencePlus!
Bicycle Tours offers a bicycle travel photo contest open to all camera and cycle
enthusiasts.

The grand prize for
the best photo that captures the spirit of cycling is a free ExperiencePlus! Bicycle Tour (maximum
value $3,650) to be enjoyed before Dec. 31, 2012. Professional photographers
Gregg Bleakney and Jeff Bartlett along with members of the ExperiencePlus! team
will select the winner.

Three Category Prize
winners will also be awarded an ExperiencePlus! gift package including a
specially designed anniversary jersey, water bottle, cycling socks and rear
rack pack. The three categories are:

Cyclists: Travel buddies, self-portraits or
locals who share the love of bicycling

Each category winner will
be awarded a prize and all photos submitted will be entered into a special
People’s Choice Contest with the lucky winner receiving a new iPad.

Voting for the
People’s Choice is done via SmugMug, a community photo sharing site. Visitors
to the special 40th
Anniversary Album will be able to give favorite photos a Green Thumbs-up
and the more votes a photo gets the higher it is ranked in the gallery in terms
of popularity. Number of views also affects popularity in this gallery, so photographers
are encouraged to send as many friends as possible to view the gallery.

There are three ways
to enter a photo (a maximum of three images for each category allowed):

By Twitter – mention @explusbicycling and
hash-tag the contest (#XPlusphoto), the challenge is telling the story in less
than 140 characters

Upon submission, all
photos will be uploaded to the SmugMug album and entered in the Grand Prize,
Category and People’s Choice contests. Historic hard copy photos may be
scanned and submitted digitally.

Although no
submission deadline date has been set, the contest is expected to end in early
2012 with the winners being announced shortly thereafter. For more information,
visit: http://www.experienceplus.com/photocontest

The leviathan blue whales have returned to the waters off of Redondo Beach area and are frolicking one to three miles directly in front of Redondo Beach Marina / King Harbor.

Passengers aboard Voyager Excursions in Decron’s Redondo Beach Marina could be in for a stunning show viewing these magnificent creatures. Each whale-watch adventure is narrated by a trained Naturalist of the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium/American Cetacean Society who shares his local knowledge of marine wildlife, coastline scenery and history.

The Voyager has been running trips daily viewing and monitoring the big Blues’ movement for weeks now and have been observing their numbers growing daily in these areas along with the food source (krill) building, water temperatures becoming more favorable for themand their proximity to Redondo getting closer by the day.

Whale pods have been hanging out on the outer edge of the Redondo Canyon three to seven miles out and off of Palos Verdes Peninsula, with sightings on every trip. Other species of whales have been spotted, including Sperm, Minke, and Fin, along with pods of dolphins that have moved back to the inside tip of the canyon just minutes from the Voyager dock.

A portion of all Voyager Excursion ticket sales will be donated to the Society, which was founded in 1967 and is the oldest whale conservation group in the world.

Recently, The Voyager had one of the best showings in it’s 50 year history as the boat drew the curiosity of a pod of eight to 10, 80+ ft. Blues that put on a show for passengers, with two of the pairs, a cow and her calf, nursing next to the boat along with multiple other blues feeding and cavorting within close proximity.